Anubi (Zealot)
Main_Page > Vampire: The Requiem > Bloodlines > the Anubi > Zealot's Version "Pay good heed to my words, because I am the righteous Judge who hold the Balance." The Gangrel bloodline distinguished with the name of Anubi had origin in ancient Egypt, to the chaste inside of the social one of the Embalmers, votes to Anubi the Keepers of the Dead, the God from the jackal head. The Embalmers constituted a chaste one to being himself, they carried the jackal mask of their patron and were used to mummify the defunct ones and preparing their travel in the Afterlife. The procedure was along, at least 40 days, to the end of which the mummy became the receptacle of the ka of defunct (the its vital force); it came then transported in one of the many Cities of Dead situated on the western rivers of the Nile (the Egyptian believed in fact that Osiris, the King of the Dead, governed on the Beautiful West, the Afterlife), and here locked up in one tomb. The Soul, or ba, after death, assumed the shape of a swallow, a hawk or a heron and began its long and dangerous travel towards the Underworld; at the end of this it reached finally the Hall of Two Truth, where its heart came weighed from Anubi, placing on the other scale, the feather of Maat, that it symbolized the Truth. Thot, the God of the Wisdom, recorded the verdict: if the sins rendered the heart heavier than Maat, the ba was punished with a second and most terrible death. If the weight were equal, the ba was lead from Horus in front of the throne of Osiris and became an akh, a blessed soul. Is not known when the Gangrel entered in contact with the Egyptian culture, and in particular, is not known the name of the founder of this particular bloodline who made his own the uses and rituals of the Chaste of the Embalmers. Probably all had beginning in the city of Thinis, one of the most ancient cities of Egypt and sacred to Anubi, after the end of the New Reign (1550-1070 a.C.), when the Art of the Embalming caught up its apex. The news are insufficient, we can only suppose that in the following centuries the bloodline modified the rituals, completed from the clergymen of Anubi, in a true blood magic. Perhaps for this fact, but above all because of their conviction that same Anubi had taught them the dictates of behavior that would have had to follow in their Requiem, than the Lancea Sanctum call a terrible crusade against all of them, that it still continues today. With the History of the Kindred precise dates cannot be given, neither tell the really happened facts like, only supposition. The Lancea was moved to Thebe in northern Egypt, with the roman legions of Diocletian in the 296 A.D. , and probably met the bloodline of the Judges, that declared they have been contacted from Gods, and particularly from Anubi, the Keeper of the Dead. What succeeded after is clear: both the Judges and the Consecrate believed they have been call to carry out a onerous duty from a Superior Entity, and both were depositaries of one particular kind of blood magic. The stronger tried to destroy the weaker. The Anubi opposed courageous, but they understood that it was impossible to face a union of vampire therefore averse from the concept of Humanity; therefore slowly made to disappear their traces and they were withdrawn openly from the world of the Kindred, but continuing to carry ahead theirs moral dictates and their rituals. Today few or nobody know the Anubi, and that is congenital to them; sometime some Gangrel go in search of them, and are well accepted if in their hearts lodges Maat. The Anubi spend their Requiem in search of the way to be judged by the Gods again, so to become blessed soul; they also imposed themselves to Judge the other Kindred whose don’t fallow the Rule of the Gods. Parent Clan: Gangrel Nickname: Judges Covenant: The small number of the Anubi and the particular traditions, make that their loyalty is turned exclusively to the bloodline. Is known that some between the older members are entered in the Circle of the Crone, in the hope to find a way to cancel the vampirism curse, to return in the grace of Gods. For the same reason, other old ones have chosen to affiliate themselves to the Ordo Dracul in order to catch up the Transcendence. The Anubi are not minimally interested to the political games of the Carthian Movement and the Invictus. About the Lancea Sanctum, they try trough the centuries to destroy the Anubi, ad so only few members, perhaps the bravest, try to enter between the row of the Consecrates in order to catch their secrets. Aspect: The greater part of the Anubi comes from Egypt, even if today some members have turned the attention to coming from candidates from the countries of the Mediterranean area. In public they stretch to adopt a sober apparel in order to pass unnoticed to the ferocious Inquisition of the Lancea Sanctum; an eye much careful can notice, hidden on their person, the symbol of Anubi. Haven: Discretion is the fundamental characteristic for the place of rest of the Anubi; the underground heavens are lot appreciated, and, in the great cities, they are situated near the morgue, useful to dispose the organic refusals, turning out from the mummifying process, without to arouse too many suspicions. Given the small number of members, the heaven shared by more members are common. All are like ancient Egyptian tomb, with numerous hieroglyphic on the walls, and distinguished by the presence, inside the sancta sanctorum, of a statue of Anubi, and of one zone used during the mummification of corpses. Background: By the traditions of the bloodline the Embrace is an evil action because it moves away the Soul from the Judgment of the Gods. Doesn’t exists the habit to Embrace many infants (here one of the causes of the small number of the Anubi), but when they do it, they choose people with a high sense of justice, and with extraordinary medical and occult acquaintances and, outside from Egypt, they choose who can offer them a support for the adaptation to the foreign culture. Character Creation: The Mental Attributes and Abilities (as Occult and Medicine, for mummifying corpses) are necessary in order to understand and to master the complexes dictates that mark the Requiem of the Anubi; even if the Social Attribute Presence is necessary to invocate the divinity protector during the rituals that this most particular bloodline possesses. The dictates of Anubi, the Judge of the Dead, set that the bloodline is characterized from a high score of Humanity. Bloodline Disciplines: Animalism, Balance of Maat, Protean (the “default” predatory form for Shape of the Beast is a jackal, rather than the wolf, in honor of Anubi), Resilience. Weakness: In addition to the weakness of their parent clan Gangrel, the Anubi also have an extreme reverence for the dead leading them to become distraught if a corpse is improperly treated. If an Anubi is forced to leave a corpse in disarray, even if they have had no involvement with the corpse other than seeing it, the Anubi suffers from the effect of depression, as if they possessed the derangement, loose a point of Willpower and is unable to spend Willpower for the rest of the night. This can be avoided by laying out the corpse in a position of repose with the arms crossed on the chest but some extreme Anubi will take and embalm corpses, especially those they cause. Organization: The bloodline of the Anubi never has been a numerous one, cause their low number of Embraces, but above all, because of the crusades called by the Lancea Sanctum against them. The Anubi are remained in a little number so they hide their descent to the eyes of the other Kindred; the ties between the members of the bloodline are strong, a lot of them share the same heaven and all they gather for the most important ritual festivities. The most important Tradition for the Anubi is to follow the dictate of Maat, the Truth, that implies to maintain a high Humanity; another is to revere Anubi mummifying the corpses and helping their soul to reach the Afterlife. Concepts: Archaeologist, Surgeon, Believer in the Ancient Faith, Student of Antiquity.